His Green Eyes, Chapter Three
Oct. 18th, 2007 07:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ericadawn16His Green Eyes 3/4
Summary: 25 years after The Twinkling of an Eye
Characters: James, OCs
Pairing: Norribeth, Willabeth, OCs
Rating: PG Some questionable themes and implications
Disclaimer: This is totally AU. Disney owns everything and Ted and Terry are wonderful guys so please don’t sue!!!
Comments: I admit it, Stephen is named after Stephen Colbert.
Chapter One: http://ericadawn16.livejournal.com/8648.html
Chapter Two: http://ericadawn16.livejournal.com/8761.html
and the original story: http://ericadawn16.livejournal.com/282.html
Chapter Three
It didn’t take long before he found her room at the tavern. The older man didn’t reveal himself although he could hear every word through the closed door.
“Billy!” she cried and sounded so happy, “How I’ve missed you!”
There was a brief period of time before he heard her brother remark,
“You’ve been under a different name lately.”
“It’s suited me,” she explained, “My life has been made easier by it.”
“And you’ve been spending time together as well?” he asked with a sickening tone.
“Yes, of course, he’s a kind man,” she said, “and he’s looked out for me often.”
“Least he could do really,” Billy snarked back and there was anger in Jessica’s voice as she questioned, “And what is your quarrel with James Norrington?”
“The great scourge of Piracy and I need a reason to hate him?” spat her brother, “He’s killed pirates, just like you, me, mother and father.”
“But never against mother and father,” she argued. Billy started to laugh before inquiring, “You haven’t even noticed?!”
“To what ignorance are you accusing me of?” she demanded in a way very much like her mother.
“You have the Admiral’s eyes.”
Jessica scoffed and James knocked for a distraction. It didn’t work though since she opened the door without even looking at the visitor.
“Our grandmother had green eyes.”
He stepped inside as Billy retorted, “Which was probably a lie to appease my father. I heard them quarreling about it once and my father is not your father. Norrington is your father.”
It was the first time he’d ever heard it spoken aloud and his daughter was completely incredulous.
“No,” she spat, “You’re lying.”
Her brother smiled and nodded at the older man suggesting, “Then, why don’t you ask him?”
With that, Jessica slapped him and fled from the room. Billy’s laugh was ringing in James’ ears as he ran after her. Her feet didn’t stop until she reached the edge of the water where he had first confronted her. Now, he knew it was his turn to be questioned. The young woman turned and asked in a harsh whisper, “Is it true?”
He bit his lip, something he hadn’t done in years and nodded, “Yes.”
Her green eyes were penetrating and then, they were suddenly away. Should he do something? Should he wait? He waited.
“How?” she inquired in a choked voice, “I thought she didn’t marry you.”
“She didn’t” James admitted, unsure of whether he should come closer, stay where he was or what. Finally, he decided that the story he had to tell didn’t suit who he pretended to be so he sat on the sand.
“It was while your mother and I were going after Will. We were both part of Jack Sparrow’s crew. A hurricane came upon us and she fell overboard. When I tried to pull her back in, I was tossed overboard as well. We were able to swim to a deserted island where we…began to give up hope of ever being rescued,” he explained and her eyes were full of betrayal, “It was only once. We both knew that she loved Will.”
The young woman paced, stopped near him, paced and finally sat a metre or so away from him.
“It was several years before I ever knew about you,” James spoke and looked at her while remembering the three year old who had acted so shy around him.
“You knew who I was all along. Why didn’t you pay me a call or write me a letter?” she pleaded and tears were in her green eyes that were just like his, “Before I washed ashore, did you even think of me?”
Now, he was the one with watery eyes as he shook his head.
“Don’t ever think that. Once I saw you, once I knew that I had a daughter, I thought of you every single day,” said James with wetness upon his cheeks that hadn’t felt any since he first met her, “Will made the mistake once of not flying his colors and I caught him, not knowing who it was. It’s standard protocol to board at that point and I did. Only then did I discover that it was the Turners’ vessel and that Elizabeth had a little girl. She was so small that she barely came up to my knee and I presumed her to be Will’s until I saw her eyes. Her eyes were just like mine. I complimented her on them and it took all my composure not to say something further. Elizabeth looked stricken that I had mentioned the green eyes until Will had repeated her lie. It was obvious she meant for no one else to know what had happened on the island and what had resulted. I respected her decision and thought that Will could be the father to you that I could never be. He could tuck you into bed and tell you tales while I could be nothing more than an uncle at most, away most of the time. I thought it was for the best that you didn’t know, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t think of you every time I saw a girl that would be your age at the time, every time I thought of the past, every time things looked bleak, I thought of you. I thought…I thought maybe…in some way…by getting rid of the monsters…I was helping you.”
Her countenance changed at these words and she turned to him.
“I asked once if you were still in love with my mother and you mentioned a little girl you’d met once. Was I that girl then?”
“Yes,” he replied, “I couldn’t very well admit the girl was my daughter when she was the one asking me.”
He tried to give her a small smile, but she was still so very bewildered by it all. Jessica moved closer and stretched her hand out to touch him before bringing it back.
She had had no qualms about it for their pretend kinship but now that she knew of their real blood bond, it appeared that things were different.
Almost a week passed when Bentley came to pay him a call in his office. He closed the door behind him and James looked up from his papers.
“Jessica’s been seeing another man. He’s been seen in her room,” Bentley began and took a seat without asking, “and he’s…he appears to be a pirate.”
This conversation was inevitable yet he still hated having it. He contemplated exactly how much to tell him.
“Jessica’s mother was a pirate,” he said softly, “She takes more after her father.”
“A pirate?” asked the young man and his fingers twisted the blue cloth of his uniform, “I had thought it strange at her name that she had never married but she’s so different…so who is this man?”
“Her brother,” James answered and almost smirked at Bentley’s shocked expression. The Lieutenant was already sitting down so all he could do was sink into the chair and grab the sides for dear life. Any further revelations could wait for Jessica to tell him if she chose. At least the young man now knew that his fiancé was not cheating on him with a pirate.
Almost a week after that, Billy still hadn’t made his move although James felt sure that he would. The longer he stayed in Virginia, the more obvious it became that he had plans beyond merely his sister. Jessica was still trying to sort out her new relationship with her father, but he had allowed him to accompany her for a walk up and down the town proper.
“So, you were being quite honest with me when you said that I resembled my father more than I could realize,” she spoke as she looked at everything other than him.
“Yes,” he confirmed, “very much so.” However, by looking at her, he didn’t see the person coming out of the shop until he crashed into them.
“Pardon me, I do…apologize,” he trailed off when he recognized Molly Morgan as he and Jessica helped picked up the books that were in her arms.
“No…no, that’s quite fine,” she stumbled and her brown eyes looked bigger than normal, “My fault really…should have been watching…not caught up reading.”
“No, I should…” started James although it was clear that her books were well contained in her grasp again, “It was a pleasure meeting you again.”
"Yes,” Miss Morgan agreed and smiled before leaving, “Well, goodbye.” She also looked back twice and he looked back. Why had he done that? He didn’t even like her.
“Who was that?” asked Jessica with a smirk and her green eyes were questioning, “Wasn’t she at the Governor’s Ball?”
“She’s Molly Morgan” he explained as though it had no consequence, “a daughter of a local land owner.”
“She fancies you!” she said, very excited and touched his coat.
“In a delusional, much mistaken, very young sort of way,” he modified. She rolled her eyes, actually rolled her eyes at him.
“But I’m old enough to be her…she’s nearly a decade younger than you,” James continued as they walked to a more secluded spot, “She’s just a child and I far too old for her.”
“For her? For happiness? For a chance at a life you always wanted? That you wanted with my mother?” Jessica spoke in what became a verbal lashing, her hands fiddling with the lace on her dress, “I will not have you talk badly of yourself in front of me. I have done enough for both of us and you have a lot to offer a girl still.”
The idea was still preposterous to him.
“Like what?” he scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. She drew herself up to her full height, came very close to him even though she only reached below his chin and said, “You’re an Admiral. You’re tall and reasonably well off. You’ve retained your shape and aren’t balding.”
Her face grew a bit red before finishing and looked to see if anyone was within earshot, “What I have to say is the honest truth and yet I feel odd in saying it to you. You are not so old for certain activities and when we first met, I found your voice to be very exciting as she no doubt does as well.”
All his arguments were running thin under her supervision.
“My mother would have wanted you to be happy,” she added and glanced away, “I want you to be happy.”
A moment passed where he considered her words and the brown haired girl they were speaking of.
“Admiral!” called a young man coming towards them.
“Lieutenant Ellis,” he acknowledged and told him to continue by nodding. It had to be important for them to track him down like this.
“It’s Governor Lee, sir. He’s dead.”
“How? Was the cause natural?” James asked and felt Jessica take his hand.
“Yes, he had already taken to bed,” the younger man replied.
“Thank you, Lieutenant that is all,” the Admiral spoke and the other took his leave although Jessica didn’t relinquish her hand. She was worried about him.
“We were not close although the appearance was crucial. I have kept my proper distance of all officials since I became too close to your grandfather,” he explained when none were in earshot once again, “His death was like losing my father again and yet nothing compared to Elizabeth’s departure…”
At this, she did take her hand from his and look away. Perhaps he shouldn’t have mentioned her mother or his love for her. The walk back to her room was silent.
So, that night when he was awakened by knocks on his door, he didn’t think it would be her. The howl of a wolf interrupted their greeting and she hurried inside.
“I apologize for my actions earlier,” Jessica said and sat on the bed.
“I understand…” he started with a touch of sadness in his green eyes, but was cut off.
“Don’t. You cannot understand what it is like for me. All my life I knew with certainty that my parents were William and Elizabeth Turner and that they loved each other greatly. It was evident in the way they looked at each other, their actions and how they talked to one another. She told him the day she died and he told us on the day he did. I never heard them even quarrel although Billy insists they did…over me,” she told him and her voice broke on the next part, “And then, what does that make you? What am I? How could she have done that? Because I cannot imagine doing that to Stephen.”
She was distraught and he tentatively moved closer. When she didn’t shirk away from him, he hugged her.
“I believe your mother did love me as I loved her, but not in the same way. She loved me as a very good friend and Will on a far deeper level. I knew she would always love him more than me,” James admitted with his arms around her.
“I would not do that with very good friends if they were not my husband,” Jessica commented as the moonlight lit her strawberry blonde hair. How to explain that? He had tended to gloss over her faults in the original telling of the way in which Will and Elizabeth were married.
“It was complicated. We were alone on an island after a hurricane had tossed us overboard and she…she felt very badly about how things had turned out for us. There was no certainty that we would ever be rescued and we had one moment of weakness between us,” he spoke, hoping she could understand, “only once.”
“Only once yet here I am as proof,” she observed. He was pleased when she allowed him to hug her again, but she continued, “Stephen knows about Billy without my telling him.”
He could hear the unasked question as clearly as he could see mischief written across Jack Sparrow’s face.
“It was I,” he admitted, “The wrong idea formed in his mind that Billy was a lover.”
“Thank you then,” Jessica spoke.
Almost two weeks later, James found himself in Robert Dinwiddie’s house. Unfortunately, the man was now acting Governor until the King could appoint someone and that required the Admiral to accept his invitation for tea.
“Admiral Norrington, I should have had you over months ago, most improper of me. It’s been nearly a year since you were first posted here, has it not?” asked the man with a smile that made him feel as though he could the other person’s depravity like a person catches sickness. However, that hadn’t stopped James before. He’d lived when others had died.
“It has indeed…sir,” he responded, the last word giving him great trouble to say.
“I don’t care much for the colonies. They appear to contain the worst England has to offer. If I could bear to be parted from them so long, I would have my girls educated in England yet against my better judgment; I will be reunited soon with them and my darling wife,” Robert explained as he dumped sugar in his drink, “However, I simply can’t abide the females found in the New World. It is not surprising that you have been unable to find yourself a wife.”
“On the contrary, I find that the colonies cultivate a kind of woman that is superior to the pale, frail damsels at home,” he spoke honestly, thinking of not only Elizabeth and their daughter, but to his surprise…Molly as well. The other man gave him a look which didn’t bother James a bit.
“Then, why have you not married?”
“I have devoted myself to my duty,” the Admiral replied.
“Is it not your duty also to produce strong, strapping sons to replace you in the King’s service?” Robert asked before taking a sip.
“I believe you only mentioned daughters for yourself,” James reminded him.
“Sometimes, an attempt is as admirable as a success,” the other man retorted, his voice very defensive. Both turned to their tea for a few minutes of silence prior to the acting Governor stating the real reason behind this visit.
“Still, it is also my duty to civilize these ruffians and set an example for them to follow so I have sent for my possessions as well as family and my portable wealth. As such, I will require protection while everything is being loaded from the ship to my mansion. I trust you will make yourself available for that,” said Robert without even looking at him. It wasn’t a question.
“It will be my honor,” he confirmed although it pained him to do so.
“Good,” the other man stated with a nod of approval. At least one good thing had resulted from this. He now knew what Billy was up to. He didn’t know how the young man knew, but he must somehow. The question was what to do with that information.
Summary: 25 years after The Twinkling of an Eye
Characters: James, OCs
Pairing: Norribeth, Willabeth, OCs
Rating: PG Some questionable themes and implications
Disclaimer: This is totally AU. Disney owns everything and Ted and Terry are wonderful guys so please don’t sue!!!
Comments: I admit it, Stephen is named after Stephen Colbert.
Chapter One: http://ericadawn16.livejournal.com/8648.html
Chapter Two: http://ericadawn16.livejournal.com/8761.html
and the original story: http://ericadawn16.livejournal.com/282.html
Chapter Three
It didn’t take long before he found her room at the tavern. The older man didn’t reveal himself although he could hear every word through the closed door.
“Billy!” she cried and sounded so happy, “How I’ve missed you!”
There was a brief period of time before he heard her brother remark,
“You’ve been under a different name lately.”
“It’s suited me,” she explained, “My life has been made easier by it.”
“And you’ve been spending time together as well?” he asked with a sickening tone.
“Yes, of course, he’s a kind man,” she said, “and he’s looked out for me often.”
“Least he could do really,” Billy snarked back and there was anger in Jessica’s voice as she questioned, “And what is your quarrel with James Norrington?”
“The great scourge of Piracy and I need a reason to hate him?” spat her brother, “He’s killed pirates, just like you, me, mother and father.”
“But never against mother and father,” she argued. Billy started to laugh before inquiring, “You haven’t even noticed?!”
“To what ignorance are you accusing me of?” she demanded in a way very much like her mother.
“You have the Admiral’s eyes.”
Jessica scoffed and James knocked for a distraction. It didn’t work though since she opened the door without even looking at the visitor.
“Our grandmother had green eyes.”
He stepped inside as Billy retorted, “Which was probably a lie to appease my father. I heard them quarreling about it once and my father is not your father. Norrington is your father.”
It was the first time he’d ever heard it spoken aloud and his daughter was completely incredulous.
“No,” she spat, “You’re lying.”
Her brother smiled and nodded at the older man suggesting, “Then, why don’t you ask him?”
With that, Jessica slapped him and fled from the room. Billy’s laugh was ringing in James’ ears as he ran after her. Her feet didn’t stop until she reached the edge of the water where he had first confronted her. Now, he knew it was his turn to be questioned. The young woman turned and asked in a harsh whisper, “Is it true?”
He bit his lip, something he hadn’t done in years and nodded, “Yes.”
Her green eyes were penetrating and then, they were suddenly away. Should he do something? Should he wait? He waited.
“How?” she inquired in a choked voice, “I thought she didn’t marry you.”
“She didn’t” James admitted, unsure of whether he should come closer, stay where he was or what. Finally, he decided that the story he had to tell didn’t suit who he pretended to be so he sat on the sand.
“It was while your mother and I were going after Will. We were both part of Jack Sparrow’s crew. A hurricane came upon us and she fell overboard. When I tried to pull her back in, I was tossed overboard as well. We were able to swim to a deserted island where we…began to give up hope of ever being rescued,” he explained and her eyes were full of betrayal, “It was only once. We both knew that she loved Will.”
The young woman paced, stopped near him, paced and finally sat a metre or so away from him.
“It was several years before I ever knew about you,” James spoke and looked at her while remembering the three year old who had acted so shy around him.
“You knew who I was all along. Why didn’t you pay me a call or write me a letter?” she pleaded and tears were in her green eyes that were just like his, “Before I washed ashore, did you even think of me?”
Now, he was the one with watery eyes as he shook his head.
“Don’t ever think that. Once I saw you, once I knew that I had a daughter, I thought of you every single day,” said James with wetness upon his cheeks that hadn’t felt any since he first met her, “Will made the mistake once of not flying his colors and I caught him, not knowing who it was. It’s standard protocol to board at that point and I did. Only then did I discover that it was the Turners’ vessel and that Elizabeth had a little girl. She was so small that she barely came up to my knee and I presumed her to be Will’s until I saw her eyes. Her eyes were just like mine. I complimented her on them and it took all my composure not to say something further. Elizabeth looked stricken that I had mentioned the green eyes until Will had repeated her lie. It was obvious she meant for no one else to know what had happened on the island and what had resulted. I respected her decision and thought that Will could be the father to you that I could never be. He could tuck you into bed and tell you tales while I could be nothing more than an uncle at most, away most of the time. I thought it was for the best that you didn’t know, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t think of you every time I saw a girl that would be your age at the time, every time I thought of the past, every time things looked bleak, I thought of you. I thought…I thought maybe…in some way…by getting rid of the monsters…I was helping you.”
Her countenance changed at these words and she turned to him.
“I asked once if you were still in love with my mother and you mentioned a little girl you’d met once. Was I that girl then?”
“Yes,” he replied, “I couldn’t very well admit the girl was my daughter when she was the one asking me.”
He tried to give her a small smile, but she was still so very bewildered by it all. Jessica moved closer and stretched her hand out to touch him before bringing it back.
She had had no qualms about it for their pretend kinship but now that she knew of their real blood bond, it appeared that things were different.
Almost a week passed when Bentley came to pay him a call in his office. He closed the door behind him and James looked up from his papers.
“Jessica’s been seeing another man. He’s been seen in her room,” Bentley began and took a seat without asking, “and he’s…he appears to be a pirate.”
This conversation was inevitable yet he still hated having it. He contemplated exactly how much to tell him.
“Jessica’s mother was a pirate,” he said softly, “She takes more after her father.”
“A pirate?” asked the young man and his fingers twisted the blue cloth of his uniform, “I had thought it strange at her name that she had never married but she’s so different…so who is this man?”
“Her brother,” James answered and almost smirked at Bentley’s shocked expression. The Lieutenant was already sitting down so all he could do was sink into the chair and grab the sides for dear life. Any further revelations could wait for Jessica to tell him if she chose. At least the young man now knew that his fiancé was not cheating on him with a pirate.
Almost a week after that, Billy still hadn’t made his move although James felt sure that he would. The longer he stayed in Virginia, the more obvious it became that he had plans beyond merely his sister. Jessica was still trying to sort out her new relationship with her father, but he had allowed him to accompany her for a walk up and down the town proper.
“So, you were being quite honest with me when you said that I resembled my father more than I could realize,” she spoke as she looked at everything other than him.
“Yes,” he confirmed, “very much so.” However, by looking at her, he didn’t see the person coming out of the shop until he crashed into them.
“Pardon me, I do…apologize,” he trailed off when he recognized Molly Morgan as he and Jessica helped picked up the books that were in her arms.
“No…no, that’s quite fine,” she stumbled and her brown eyes looked bigger than normal, “My fault really…should have been watching…not caught up reading.”
“No, I should…” started James although it was clear that her books were well contained in her grasp again, “It was a pleasure meeting you again.”
"Yes,” Miss Morgan agreed and smiled before leaving, “Well, goodbye.” She also looked back twice and he looked back. Why had he done that? He didn’t even like her.
“Who was that?” asked Jessica with a smirk and her green eyes were questioning, “Wasn’t she at the Governor’s Ball?”
“She’s Molly Morgan” he explained as though it had no consequence, “a daughter of a local land owner.”
“She fancies you!” she said, very excited and touched his coat.
“In a delusional, much mistaken, very young sort of way,” he modified. She rolled her eyes, actually rolled her eyes at him.
“But I’m old enough to be her…she’s nearly a decade younger than you,” James continued as they walked to a more secluded spot, “She’s just a child and I far too old for her.”
“For her? For happiness? For a chance at a life you always wanted? That you wanted with my mother?” Jessica spoke in what became a verbal lashing, her hands fiddling with the lace on her dress, “I will not have you talk badly of yourself in front of me. I have done enough for both of us and you have a lot to offer a girl still.”
The idea was still preposterous to him.
“Like what?” he scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. She drew herself up to her full height, came very close to him even though she only reached below his chin and said, “You’re an Admiral. You’re tall and reasonably well off. You’ve retained your shape and aren’t balding.”
Her face grew a bit red before finishing and looked to see if anyone was within earshot, “What I have to say is the honest truth and yet I feel odd in saying it to you. You are not so old for certain activities and when we first met, I found your voice to be very exciting as she no doubt does as well.”
All his arguments were running thin under her supervision.
“My mother would have wanted you to be happy,” she added and glanced away, “I want you to be happy.”
A moment passed where he considered her words and the brown haired girl they were speaking of.
“Admiral!” called a young man coming towards them.
“Lieutenant Ellis,” he acknowledged and told him to continue by nodding. It had to be important for them to track him down like this.
“It’s Governor Lee, sir. He’s dead.”
“How? Was the cause natural?” James asked and felt Jessica take his hand.
“Yes, he had already taken to bed,” the younger man replied.
“Thank you, Lieutenant that is all,” the Admiral spoke and the other took his leave although Jessica didn’t relinquish her hand. She was worried about him.
“We were not close although the appearance was crucial. I have kept my proper distance of all officials since I became too close to your grandfather,” he explained when none were in earshot once again, “His death was like losing my father again and yet nothing compared to Elizabeth’s departure…”
At this, she did take her hand from his and look away. Perhaps he shouldn’t have mentioned her mother or his love for her. The walk back to her room was silent.
So, that night when he was awakened by knocks on his door, he didn’t think it would be her. The howl of a wolf interrupted their greeting and she hurried inside.
“I apologize for my actions earlier,” Jessica said and sat on the bed.
“I understand…” he started with a touch of sadness in his green eyes, but was cut off.
“Don’t. You cannot understand what it is like for me. All my life I knew with certainty that my parents were William and Elizabeth Turner and that they loved each other greatly. It was evident in the way they looked at each other, their actions and how they talked to one another. She told him the day she died and he told us on the day he did. I never heard them even quarrel although Billy insists they did…over me,” she told him and her voice broke on the next part, “And then, what does that make you? What am I? How could she have done that? Because I cannot imagine doing that to Stephen.”
She was distraught and he tentatively moved closer. When she didn’t shirk away from him, he hugged her.
“I believe your mother did love me as I loved her, but not in the same way. She loved me as a very good friend and Will on a far deeper level. I knew she would always love him more than me,” James admitted with his arms around her.
“I would not do that with very good friends if they were not my husband,” Jessica commented as the moonlight lit her strawberry blonde hair. How to explain that? He had tended to gloss over her faults in the original telling of the way in which Will and Elizabeth were married.
“It was complicated. We were alone on an island after a hurricane had tossed us overboard and she…she felt very badly about how things had turned out for us. There was no certainty that we would ever be rescued and we had one moment of weakness between us,” he spoke, hoping she could understand, “only once.”
“Only once yet here I am as proof,” she observed. He was pleased when she allowed him to hug her again, but she continued, “Stephen knows about Billy without my telling him.”
He could hear the unasked question as clearly as he could see mischief written across Jack Sparrow’s face.
“It was I,” he admitted, “The wrong idea formed in his mind that Billy was a lover.”
“Thank you then,” Jessica spoke.
Almost two weeks later, James found himself in Robert Dinwiddie’s house. Unfortunately, the man was now acting Governor until the King could appoint someone and that required the Admiral to accept his invitation for tea.
“Admiral Norrington, I should have had you over months ago, most improper of me. It’s been nearly a year since you were first posted here, has it not?” asked the man with a smile that made him feel as though he could the other person’s depravity like a person catches sickness. However, that hadn’t stopped James before. He’d lived when others had died.
“It has indeed…sir,” he responded, the last word giving him great trouble to say.
“I don’t care much for the colonies. They appear to contain the worst England has to offer. If I could bear to be parted from them so long, I would have my girls educated in England yet against my better judgment; I will be reunited soon with them and my darling wife,” Robert explained as he dumped sugar in his drink, “However, I simply can’t abide the females found in the New World. It is not surprising that you have been unable to find yourself a wife.”
“On the contrary, I find that the colonies cultivate a kind of woman that is superior to the pale, frail damsels at home,” he spoke honestly, thinking of not only Elizabeth and their daughter, but to his surprise…Molly as well. The other man gave him a look which didn’t bother James a bit.
“Then, why have you not married?”
“I have devoted myself to my duty,” the Admiral replied.
“Is it not your duty also to produce strong, strapping sons to replace you in the King’s service?” Robert asked before taking a sip.
“I believe you only mentioned daughters for yourself,” James reminded him.
“Sometimes, an attempt is as admirable as a success,” the other man retorted, his voice very defensive. Both turned to their tea for a few minutes of silence prior to the acting Governor stating the real reason behind this visit.
“Still, it is also my duty to civilize these ruffians and set an example for them to follow so I have sent for my possessions as well as family and my portable wealth. As such, I will require protection while everything is being loaded from the ship to my mansion. I trust you will make yourself available for that,” said Robert without even looking at him. It wasn’t a question.
“It will be my honor,” he confirmed although it pained him to do so.
“Good,” the other man stated with a nod of approval. At least one good thing had resulted from this. He now knew what Billy was up to. He didn’t know how the young man knew, but he must somehow. The question was what to do with that information.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-10-19 06:25 am (UTC)“I believe you only mentioned daughters for yourself,” James reminded him.
“Sometimes, an attempt is as admirable as a success,” the other man retorted, his voice very defensive.
Love the dialogue.
no subject
Date: 2007-10-19 01:26 pm (UTC)